Fwd: “Debt-for-nature” swaps are helping some lower-income countries increase conservation. China has the leverage for deals—if it chooses to use it

[Loretta Lohman]

View this email in your browser All gifts matched 2X right now! We have just a few days left to raise the funds our nonprofit newsroom needs in 2026. If you like reading ICN Weekly, please chip in now with whatever you can afford. Help keep this free newsletter coming every week! We can't do it without you. Thank you!  >> DONATE >> Long drifts of mist settle between the mountain peaks in Limón Indanza, Ecuador, almost indistinguishable from clouds. Underneath, species found only here depend on the intricacies of this high-altitude rainforest, one of the most biodiverse places on the planet.  Like many parts of the Amazon, this fragile and abundant wilderness is imperiled—and not only by the usual dangers of development and climate change. Mounting sovereign debt has become one of the Ecuadorian Amazon’s biggest threats, pushing the government to expand oil and mining to keep public finances afloat. Ecuador owes $49 billion to foreign creditors and is paying billions more just to service the debt that instead could be spent on urgently needed environmental protections. But today, an effort is underway that could transform this liability into a tool for conservation. In 2024, through a deal known as a debt-for-nature swap, the Ecuadorian government was able to refinance some of its costliest, privately held debt for pennies on the dollar and replace it with a lower-interest, longer-maturity bond. In return, Ecuador agreed to expand protections across its Amazonian region, which spans about half the country. Debt swaps—for nature, development projects and more—are not new. Western creditors have been experimenting with versions of them since the 1980s. In recent years, countries such as Seychelles and Barbados have executed deals with private creditors like commercial banks, mobilizing hundreds of millions of dollars for conservation. Now, a small chorus of academics and policy thinkers is looking beyond traditional lenders to one with massive and untapped leverage: China.  Through its $1.3 trillion Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing has become the world’s largest bilateral creditor by financing mines, ports, power plants and infrastructure in countries across the developing world. China’s opaque lending practices make it difficult to know exactly how much these countries owe, but experts say it could exceed hundreds of billions of dollars. More of our coverage of the biggest story on the planet: When the EPA abruptly terminated “Community Change” grants, the impacts rippled across the country. Chicago groups that won and then lost one of those grants are still feeling the impacts. Climate legislation requiring Michigan to get all its electricity from renewable sources became Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s signature environmental bill. But now, the tax incentives the governor granted data centers stand to trigger “off ramps” to more fossil fuel use. As power-guzzling data centers proliferate across the country and drive electricity prices up, batteries could be a part of the solution. Countries Want Debt Relief for Conservation. Is China Ready to Play a Role? BY KATIE SURMA, GEORGINA GUSTIN “Debt-for-nature” swaps are helping some lower-income countries increase conservation. The world’s largest nation-state creditor has the leverage for deals—if it chooses to use it. The ‘Toxic Cocktail’ Brewing in Pennsylvania’s Waterways BY KILEY BENSE Pennsylvania is still cleaning up decades’ worth of coal mining pollution. Now it must also contend with millions of tons of fracking waste, some of it radioactive. Could Rescinding The Roadless Rule Make It Harder To Delist Yellowstone Grizzlies? BY JAKE BOLSTER The rule banning new roads in some forests protects prime bear habitat and was part of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s justification for its failed attempt to delist grizzlies in 2017. Scenes From an Unfolding Climate Drama BY BOB BERWYN ICN international climate policy reporter Bob Berwyn reviews the past decade of the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Indigenous Groups Fight to Save Rediscovered Settlement Site on an Industrial Waterfront in Texas BY DYLAN BADDOUR Flanked by a chemical plant and an oil rig construction yard, the site at Donnel Point may be the last of its kind on this stretch of coastline, now occupied by petrochemical industries. Will New Jersey’s Environmental Regulators Approve Transco’s NESE Pipeline After Rejecting it Twice? BY RAEANNE RACCAGNO Both New Jersey and New York rejected the pipeline in 2019 and 2020. But the regulatory climate is different during the second Trump administration, which has pushed for swift approval of oil and gas infrastructure. In the Great Lakes Region, a Push to Grow Water-Focused Startups Amid Federal Funding Uncertainty BY LEIGH GIANGRECO Technology from Chicago and around the world promises to clean up water. An effort in Illinois is trying to speed it to market while navigating new federal funding challenges. Nonprofit Center Works with Rural Maine Towns to Prepare for and Protect Against Extreme Weather BY SYDNEY CROMWELL Weather disasters are shared experiences in the Maine foothills and communities are preparing for a wetter, warmer future. A New Jersey Buyout Program for Flood-Prone Homes Is a National Model BY EMILIE LOUNSBERRY In a state beset by sea level rise and flooding, the Blue Acres program has bought out and demolished 1,200 properties that were repeatedly inundated, turning the properties into buffer zones and open spaces. Lessons on Scaling Gift Economies—and How It Can Help the Planet BY JENNI DOERING, LIVING ON EARTH Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of “The Serviceberry,” offers ideas rooted in nature for creating sharing economies as a way to bind communities, offer purpose and reduce strain on the Earth. 📈 Trending The World’s Last Flock of Wild Whooping Cranes Gets More Living Space BY DYLAN BADDOUR Once on the brink of extinction, these birds are expanding their grounds on an isolated stretch of the Gulf Coast in Texas. 👀 Looking for More Climate News?  🟢 Visit our website for the latest.  🟡 Sign up for more newsletters, including our twice-weekly Today's Climate and Thursday's Inside Clean Energy. ⚫️ Follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and Bluesky. 🔴 Have a tip or story idea? Contact us. Copyright © 2025 Inside Climate News, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up on our website: insideclimatenews.org Update Email Preferences  |  ICN Newsletter Sign Up  |  Unsubscribe Our mailing address: Inside Climate News 26 Court Street Suite #1617 Brooklyn, NY 11242

This email was sent to loril...@gmail.com why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences Inside Climate News · 26 Court Street · Suite #1617 · Brooklyn, NY 11242 · USA